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Aruba Instant vs NETGEAR Insight Access Points comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Aruba Instant
Ranking in Wireless LAN
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NETGEAR Insight Access Points
Ranking in Wireless LAN
22nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Aruba Instant is 2.5%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETGEAR Insight Access Points is 1.7%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Aruba Instant2.5%
NETGEAR Insight Access Points1.7%
Other95.8%
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

SreejeshSoman - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Consultant at Vertex Techno Solutions (B) Pvt Ltd
Has supported mid-market deployments with cloud-based centralized management and reliable wireless performance
I faced challenges earlier with a limitation of 50 APs in single sites, but that has enhanced to 100 numbers, eliminating that challenge for Aruba Instant On team. Additionally, some features are not listed in the cloud management platform and still require offline access, so enhancing the cloud management features would be better for us.
DG
Owner at ERIM S.A.
Centralized management has simplified our home Wi‑Fi setup and supports multiple users reliably
Given my experience with NETGEAR Insight Access Points, my piece of advice for other organizations considering it is that they have to look at the rest of their system because NETGEAR Insight Access Points is quite useless with anything but the Wi-Fi system. I rate this product an 8 out of 10.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Aruba Instant On is that it is cloud-managed, making it easy to manage multiple locations in a single dashboard, especially on cloud, and it can even be managed by a mobile app, which is the best feature for mid-market customers who don't have much expertise or manpower resource."
"You can handle all of the access points at once virtually instead of manually handling each one, and you're able to populate all of the information to all of the access points through the virtual controller as well, which simplifies things."
"The products offer a lot of flexibility. Almost everything can be configured. It works very well for providing remote services."
"I find network management features related to monitoring Wi-Fi usage and visited sites particularly valuable. Content filtering is also important to prevent access to malicious or inappropriate websites. It is reliable and simple."
"Works automatically in terms of setup with the product finding its master wifi access point."
"The product is easy to configure."
"The most beneficial features for network management are the price and the cloud console."
"I like the Instant On switches and the AP22"
"I'm able to do a lot of things, because the GUI is designed very well. I'm able to remotely make certain changes via my phone and apply them right away. It makes life easier when it comes to managing the equipment. The Insight management solution phone app is very good. It enables me to do what I want to do."
"The meshing capabilities are the most valuable feature. When I am going in-between buildings, my phone doesn't have to pick up different WiFi. They are all the same. Even in-between the buildings, I stay connected."
"The product's deployment is straightforward."
"The solution enables me to manage my entire network from anywhere in the world."
"We use NETGEAR's Insight management solution to do off-property controls. It is user-friendly and provides network management, monitoring, and service deployment across multiple remote and local sites. That means I don't have to be physically at a location to do things if I want to make any changes to the network. It saves time and money."
"With the Insight management solution, it is awesome that you don’t need an additional cloud controller, appliance, network manager, or PC/server to configure and manage your access points."
"[Being] able to configure the WiFi devices and to see utilization remotely, or from the cloud."
"My advice would be to go ahead and switch to this one, because this is the best-performing device I have seen so far."
 

Cons

"The only issue we've had is getting equipment supplies. The availability of the APs that I want to use has been an issue."
"Doesn't support enough access points in one cluster."
"The captive portal through Facebook doesn't work."
"The product's high cost is an area where improvements are required."
"Although built-in troubleshooting tools are available, they are not at all intuitive to use. Aruba Instant lacks decent documentation to use for troubleshooting wireless issues (fortunately there aren’t many)."
"The only issue we've had is getting equipment supplies. The availability of the APs that I want to use has been an issue. It took almost two months to get them the first time. I've ordered a few more for another client, and they're still on back order. It has been over a month now."
"There is an issue with flooding to the Aruba access point on the ports."
"We have faced delay in customer support which has affected our business performance. So the customer support needs to be prompt in their responses."
"I have some frustrations with the ease of use. It tends to be sluggish. The graphical interface is pretty, but not useful. They have this tree that shows connected devices, which makes no sense whatsoever because the labeling field of the tree truncates all the items to the point that it's almost useless. You can't even tell what it is. I would prefer a spreadsheet list of the gear as opposed to a graphical representation."
"Due to certain shortcomings in the solution's stability, I feel that the solution's stability requires improvement."
"The biggest issue I've had is that it works very well with the WiFi, but it does not offer any assistance at all with the routers."
"The biggest issue I've had is that it works very well with the WiFi, but it does not offer any assistance at all with the routers. You can't control them or manage them at all. As soon as you want to use anything on the network side—because I have multiple 28-port switches—you can't manage them using this app."
"Software-wise, they need to provide the ability to kick users out."
"Ubiquiti is a very good company. NETGEAR should look at that model and expand on its remote capabilities. Ubiquiti seems to have a better product."
"While the data throughput does provide us with full insight into data being used, we find that it's not very accurate."
"Managing users could be improved as it is quite difficult to block someone, and it is impossible to block someone on one specific access point."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is competitively priced"
"The solution's pricing is reasonable."
"There’s no licensing required to use the tool."
"Aruba Instant is a free subscription with a limited lifetime warranty."
"Some aspect of the price of Aruba Instant is very economical because if the customer is requiring more features the customer needs to pay a higher amount."
"I would rate pricing six out of ten."
"I rate the product’s pricing a two out of ten."
"In terms of costs, Aruba Instant is cheap because it doesn't require a license, but you'll incur charges for the access points. Access point charges could be more affordable."
"My company does not need to pay anything related to the solution's licensing costs."
"Their pricing is perfect for smaller businesses who are money and budget conscious. There are a lot of other solutions out there that are two to three times more expensive."
"I think that the price of the product is reasonable."
"The pricing seems to be reasonable."
"I can source the stuff pretty quickly wherever I go through the distributor. There is pricing available at NETGEAR if you can spend between $2,000 and $5,000 on a solution. So, there is special pricing that they can help with. The vendor's reps are very responsive. They have a good channel system."
"It wasn't much more than 100 dollars a year. For the devices that we have, the pricing was pretty fair."
"We have some basic models they give without a license."
"Price-wise, it is a little too high, about $20 higher than what it should be, but it's worth it. It's cheaper than Cisco's access point, but the products are not apples to apples."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Construction Company
6%
Construction Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Retailer
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - Ubiquiti WLAN or Aruba Instant?
We researched Ubiquiti and Aruba when looking for a WLAN solution. Ubiquiti offers good WLAN access both indoors and outdoors. It provides an enterprise-level WIFI while remaining cost-effective. U...
What do you like most about Aruba Instant?
I find network management features related to monitoring Wi-Fi usage and visited sites particularly valuable. Content filtering is also important to prevent access to malicious or inappropriate web...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Instant?
In my experience, Aruba Instant's price is reasonable compared to premium products like Ruckus, Cisco, or Juniper. However, when compared to entry-level market segments, the price is higher. Overal...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NETGEAR Insight Access Points?
My impression of the pricing aspect of NETGEAR Insight Access Points is that it is not exactly cheap. I find the pricing reasonable, but it is at the upper end of the reasonable bracket.
What needs improvement with NETGEAR Insight Access Points?
Managing users could be improved as it is quite difficult to block someone, and it is impossible to block someone on one specific access point. Regarding specific features that I would like to see ...
What is your primary use case for NETGEAR Insight Access Points?
We are using NETGEAR Insight Access Points in a domestic environment with four or five users.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Purdue University, Orlando Magic, Brussels Airport Company, Molecaten Holiday Parks
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Instant vs. NETGEAR Insight Access Points and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,438 professionals have used our research since 2012.